I've realized that I've been catching my kids growth through pictures on this blog. What I haven't been so great on is writing down their new skills, showing how they are meeting developmental milestones, and capturing their personalities.
Piper turned 18 months old this week. She was really squirmy when being measured, and I don't think the reading was accurate. Supposedly she hasn't gotten any taller and is 32 inches tall. I'm going to have her stand on our growth chart wall. She's 21 pounds, 13 oz, which is the 15th percentile for weight, which is where she's been all along. She's doing amazing with fine motor skills. She only eats if you give her a spoon and very rarely does food fall off the spoon before it gets in her mouth. She grabs objects with her thumb and index finger. She "wins" the clean-up award at daycare almost every day--she loves to put things "back where they belong" (aka, putting anything in to any type of container!). A friend gave her a crayon and a piece of paper the other day, and sure enough, there are some scribbles on the page. Sometimes I forget to have her try arts and crafts! Eddy and I watched her hold the railing to the stairs and WALK up the stairs, as opposed to crawling recently. My jaw about hit the floor! Piper is an amazing eater. She loves her meat! Any kind--steak, chicken, sausage, you name it, she'll eat it. But, HOW food is delivered is very important. A few weekends ago when my parents were up, Eddy cut up some french toast and put it on her highchair tray. she threw a fit and kept grabbing the food and giving it back to Eddy. In a moment of clarity, I asked Eddy to get a plate. We put the same food that she just had given us on the plate and gave it back to her. INSTANTLY the tears were done and she was as happy as a clam! The above picture was similar--tried to let her bite a piece of pizza; she wasn't having any of it. Gave her her own piece to eat, tears were done and she ate away! She knows what she wants and when she wants it, which is usually RIGHT NOW! She's got a good whine going. We read stories at bedtime and although she doesn't have a lot of words, you know when you've picked the wrong book. Tonight I let her pick, and she would pick up a book and set it down, pick up another one, and put it down. Several books later, she finally settled on one. With language, she says "pup pup" for puppy and can say "woof, "mamma", "yes", "dadda". Our daycare thinks she can say "Isaac", but I haven't heard it. We do a lot of sign: more, please, thank you. She is also nodding her head when she says yes. We know she is making connections. I'm sure the vocabularily will be coming very soon! She has 6 teeth on the top and just cut her third tooth on the bottom! I just asked my dentist if I should be concerned! She isn't as physically busy as Isaac was at this age. She is content to be in one physical place for an extended period of time and can play with one time for several minutes before switching. However, she is MUCH more opinionated than Isaac! She is going to be my strong-willed little girl! In the blink of an eye, she is no longer a baby. I don't long for the days when she was an infant, and I am looking forward to watching her grow...but I wouldn't mind if she just stayed like this for a little longer. She is my little sweetie pie.
And our Isaac Richard. He is four. Sometimes, that's all we need to say! He picks up on things so quickly. We have to be careful what we say! He told me he was going to get Daddy a powerwasher for Christmas. Where on earth did he learn about a powerwasher? Oh yeah, he saw a commercial on TV for one! He speech is very clear, although there are a few that trip me up occasionally. A new tire store opened in town and there was a huge inflatable Michelin Man near the entrance. I thought Isaac said "look mom, a real man". I said "a real man?". He said, "No. A WHEEL man, like a tire". Holy crap! He used a different word, similar concept, so that I would understand! When I really sit and pay attention, he amazes me. He continues to love all things train. We rode The Polar Express last night (look for an upcoming blog post about that). He can name several different kinds of trains and can name their parts. Our neighbor gave him a book about trains tonight--his eyes just lit up! We've read the book The Polar Express so many times that he can say a few sentences verbatim when he looks at each page. He loves to play dress up. My sister and her hubby got costumes super cheap after Halloween last year and gave them to him for Christmas. Definitely gotten our use out of those...and new ones are coming this year! It has certainly fostered his imagination. Other other day he told me "you're pulling my legs and pushing my buttons, mom". And when I was singing Christmas carols in the car, he said "you're giving me a headache, mom". Geez! He is a wizard with technology. He knows how to operate my camera and takes decent pictures. He also knows how to work my iPhone, play games on it, and just figured out how to answer it when it rings. Seriously! The picture above is him playing a game. He is a great big brother and 99% of the time, is very loving. I do catch him though, walking by her and brushing her with his shoulder. Just a little bit of pressure. Not enough to knock her over, but just enough to get in her space! When we go in her room to get her from sleeping, he'll say "good morning sweetheart" and want to kiss her on the cheek. He's usually good about sharing his toys. He loves to color and is getting better with using different colors and staying in the lines. We have a couple preschool activity books, so are working on tracing shapes and learning letters. He has taken a few once-a-week for 6 weeks classes at the Duluth Aquarium. That's been a fun activity and a little peek into a classroom setting. Isaac is very excited for Christmas and for Santa coming this year. It's going to be a lot of fun to watch him! At four, I find myself having high expectations for our first-born. He is typically so polite and considerate, that when he acts out or misbehaves, I have to remind myself that he's on a huge learning curve. He's figuring out how he fits in to the world. I am so blessed to be his mother.
And our Isaac Richard. He is four. Sometimes, that's all we need to say! He picks up on things so quickly. We have to be careful what we say! He told me he was going to get Daddy a powerwasher for Christmas. Where on earth did he learn about a powerwasher? Oh yeah, he saw a commercial on TV for one! He speech is very clear, although there are a few that trip me up occasionally. A new tire store opened in town and there was a huge inflatable Michelin Man near the entrance. I thought Isaac said "look mom, a real man". I said "a real man?". He said, "No. A WHEEL man, like a tire". Holy crap! He used a different word, similar concept, so that I would understand! When I really sit and pay attention, he amazes me. He continues to love all things train. We rode The Polar Express last night (look for an upcoming blog post about that). He can name several different kinds of trains and can name their parts. Our neighbor gave him a book about trains tonight--his eyes just lit up! We've read the book The Polar Express so many times that he can say a few sentences verbatim when he looks at each page. He loves to play dress up. My sister and her hubby got costumes super cheap after Halloween last year and gave them to him for Christmas. Definitely gotten our use out of those...and new ones are coming this year! It has certainly fostered his imagination. Other other day he told me "you're pulling my legs and pushing my buttons, mom". And when I was singing Christmas carols in the car, he said "you're giving me a headache, mom". Geez! He is a wizard with technology. He knows how to operate my camera and takes decent pictures. He also knows how to work my iPhone, play games on it, and just figured out how to answer it when it rings. Seriously! The picture above is him playing a game. He is a great big brother and 99% of the time, is very loving. I do catch him though, walking by her and brushing her with his shoulder. Just a little bit of pressure. Not enough to knock her over, but just enough to get in her space! When we go in her room to get her from sleeping, he'll say "good morning sweetheart" and want to kiss her on the cheek. He's usually good about sharing his toys. He loves to color and is getting better with using different colors and staying in the lines. We have a couple preschool activity books, so are working on tracing shapes and learning letters. He has taken a few once-a-week for 6 weeks classes at the Duluth Aquarium. That's been a fun activity and a little peek into a classroom setting. Isaac is very excited for Christmas and for Santa coming this year. It's going to be a lot of fun to watch him! At four, I find myself having high expectations for our first-born. He is typically so polite and considerate, that when he acts out or misbehaves, I have to remind myself that he's on a huge learning curve. He's figuring out how he fits in to the world. I am so blessed to be his mother.
Eddy celebrated his b-day on Sept 12. I think the kids enjoyed the presents more than he did!
Isaac didn't want to go to bed recently. So instead of a huge battle, I told him he didn't have to go to bed, but he needed to stay in his room. Here's how we found him!
Piper showing off her new snack cup...it has a plastic lid she can pull treats out of, and it doesn't spill all over.
Sept 18th weekend brought the UWS baseball alumni weekend. There was a great alumni vs. current team double-header then banquet on Saturday and a golf tourney on Sunday. Isaac had a blast running the bases after the game and tackling Uncle Nick (one of the assitants). 
Isaac decided to put stickers all over his face. 
Piper licking her plate clean! 
Last weekend, a friend Sara and her two boys came for the weekend. It was amazing! Her boys are 5 and 3, so Isaac had a blast playing with them. Saturday morning, we loaded them up in Sara's van, and went to a local Harvest Festival.
We met up with Courtney and her son, who is 3 and friend Molly, with her 6 mo old boy. Us on a hayride
The boys got to sit on a tractor, go on a mini-train ride, and everyone got ice cream cones from Papa Steve! What a morning! 
Later, we went down to the lake to throw rocks in the water. They had a blast throwing rocks and climbing on the big ones. Piper has a really special relationship with her Godmother, Courtney. It is so sweet to see!
It was a beautiful day on Wednesday. I was home with the kids the day before; both of them were sick. Since they seemed to be feeling a little better, we got outside for some fresh air.
